Windows to be free for small devices
Microsoft reviving start menu after user complaints
SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft renewed its push to catch up with Apple and Google in mobile devices, unveiling updated Windows Phone software — with voicesearch features — and offering it for free for small phones and tablets.
Microsoft, which previously charged a licensing fee for Windows, will offer it without charge for handsets and tablets with screens smaller than nine inches, Microsoft operating systems chief Terry Myerson said Wednesday in San Francisco at the company’s Build conference for developers.
The move is an effort to narrow the gap with Google, which distributes its Android mobile OS to hardwaremakers at no cost. Android has become the most widely used software in smartphones and tablets.
Microsoft also showed off a voice-controlled digital assistant called Cortana — named for the artificial-intelligence character in Microsoft’s Halo Xbox game series — that is similar to Apple’s Siri and is part of new Windows Phone 8.1 software for mobile gadgets.
New chief executive Satya Nadella is working to remake Micro- soft for an era in which smartphones and tablets have become central.
Wednesday’s event was designed to re-emphasize the importance of Windows to the company and to spur adoption of the software.
The Build conference puts Windows front-and-centre by giving developers tools and tactics to boost Microsoft’s single-digit share in phones and tablets, as well as providing money-making opportunities in a shrinking PC market.
“We’re going to innovate with a challenger mindset,” Nadella said at the event.
Other highlights from Build on Wednesday:
The company is restoring the Windows start menu, which will be made available to users as an update. The company got complaints from customers when it yanked the feature from Windows 8.
Office applications for Windows are redesigned for use with touch controls; similar apps for Office for the iPad were unveiled a week ago.
The new Windows Phone 8.1 will have an action centre — a pull-down menu that allows access to basic functions regardless of whether programs are already open.
Nokia Oyj’s handset division, which Microsoft is acquiring in a deal set to close this month, will begin selling new phones using Windows Phone 8.1, said former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who will become Microsoft’s executive vice-president of the devices group when the transaction is completed.